Gay couple win lawsuit against adoption Web site

Service in Arizona posts profiles only of married pairs

An out-of-state Internet service will no longer post profiles of California residents seeking to adopt children as a result of a settlement with a gay couple from San Jose who sued after their information was barred from the Web site, attorneys in the case said Tuesday. Michael and Rich Butler, domestic partners since 2000, filed a federal civil rights suit against Adoption.com of Arizona in 2004 after the company told the men it posted profiles only of married, opposite-sex couples. The adoption company had argued that it was governed by Arizona law, which does not prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation.

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

An out-of-state Internet service will no longer post profiles of California residents seeking to adopt children as a result of a settlement with a gay couple from San Jose who sued after their information was barred from the Web site, attorneys in the case said Tuesday. Michael and Rich Butler, domestic partners since 2000, filed a federal civil rights suit against Adoption.com of Arizona in 2004 after the company told the men it posted profiles only of married, opposite-sex couples. The adoption company had argued that it was governed by Arizona law, which does not prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation. It said requiring it to post profiles of same-sex couples would violate its freedom of speech. But in a March ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco said California law applies to the defendants and allowed the suit to go forward. Under the terms of a settlement announced Tuesday, ParentPro files.com, a sister company to Adoption.com, cannot post profiles of California residents "unless the service is made equally available to all California residents qualified to adopt in California." That means the defendants have a choice: either "treat everyone in California equally or don't benefit from the state's economy," said Neel Chatterjee, an attorney for the Butlers. Glen Lavy, an Alliance Defense Fund lawyer representing the company, said Tuesday that ParentProfiles.com will no longer accept profiles from California and will phase out all profiles from California within six months. "The managers of the adoption profiles believe that it's in the best interests of children to be placed with a married mom and dad," Lavy said. "They believe that when there's an option, children are better off having a married mom and dad than any other circumstance." It was unclear how many California residents have used the service. There is no monetary payout as part of the settlement, as the Butlers were never after money, Chatterjee said. The couple sued under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers on a variety of grounds. For at least 20 years, state courts have interpreted the law to require equal treatment of lesbians and gays. Bias based on marital status was the subject of conflicting rulings until the Legislature outlawed such discrimination, effective in 2006. The Butlers adopted a baby girl in 2004 through a California adoption agency. "We think it's a great agreement for us because it really ends the discriminatory practice of Adoption.com in the state of California," Rich Butler, 35, said Tuesday. "We hope that they continue doing business in the state, but if they can't comply with the nondiscriminatory policy and they stop doing business in the state, it's still a victory for Californians. We're not allowing them to profit on the back of Californians."

An out-of-state Internet service will no longer post profiles of California residents seeking to adopt children as a result of a settlement with a gay couple from San Jose who sued after their information was barred from the Web site, attorneys in the case said Tuesday.

Michael and Rich Butler, domestic partners since 2000, filed a federal civil rights suit against Adoption.com of Arizona in 2004 after the company told the men it posted profiles only of married, opposite-sex couples.

The adoption company had argued that it was governed by Arizona law, which does not prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation. It said requiring it to post profiles of same-sex couples would violate its freedom of speech.

But in a March ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco said California law applies to the defendants and allowed the suit to go forward.

Under the terms of a settlement announced Tuesday, ParentPro files.com, a sister company to Adoption.com, cannot post profiles of California residents "unless the service is made equally available to all California residents qualified to adopt in California."

That means the defendants have a choice: either "treat everyone in California equally or don't benefit from the state's economy," said Neel Chatterjee, an attorney for the Butlers.

Glen Lavy, an Alliance Defense Fund lawyer representing the company, said Tuesday that ParentProfiles.com will no longer accept profiles from California and will phase out all profiles from California within six months.

"The managers of the adoption profiles believe that it's in the best interests of children to be placed with a married mom and dad," Lavy said. "They believe that when there's an option, children are better off having a married mom and dad than any other circumstance."

It was unclear how many California residents have used the service.

There is no monetary payout as part of the settlement, as the Butlers were never after money, Chatterjee said.

The couple sued under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers on a variety of grounds. For at least 20 years, state courts have interpreted the law to require equal treatment of lesbians and gays. Bias based on marital status was the subject of conflicting rulings until the Legislature outlawed such discrimination, effective in 2006.

The Butlers adopted a baby girl in 2004 through a California adoption agency.

"We think it's a great agreement for us because it really ends the discriminatory practice of Adoption.com in the state of California," Rich Butler, 35, said Tuesday. "We hope that they continue doing business in the state, but if they can't comply with the nondiscriminatory policy and they stop doing business in the state, it's still a victory for Californians. We're not allowing them to profit on the back of Californians."

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle